An atomizer has been already known as an instrument used for treating the nose and throat, and this kind of an atomizer is, for example, utilized for treating primary catarrh, allergic rhinitis, etc. An atomizer used for such a therapy is such that heat or vibration is given to liquefied medicine in order to atomize the same and a patient is caused to inhale the same. A handy type and an installation type are available on the market.
Furthermore, various kinds of handy type atomizers are proposed in view of their portability, for example, several structural examples are disclosed in Japanese laid-open utility model publications Nos. 51541 of 1983, 109545 of 1986, 75750 of 1990, etc. An atomizer disclosed in Japanese laid-open utility model publication No. 51541 of 1983 is provided with a cylindrical casing in which an atomizer is incorporated, and the casing is such that the cross-section thereof connects a small-diametered semicircle with a large-diametered semicircle and is made cylindrical, and a nozzle which is able to discharge atomized medicine is provided in a fixed state at the small-diametered semicircle at the upper side of the casing.
With an atomizer having such a structure, when using the same, the large-diametered semicircle section of the casing is gripped by a hand and the nozzle secured at the small-diametered semicircle is caused to face the nose or throat. Furthermore, an atomizer disclosed by Japanese laid-open utility model publication No. 109545 of 1986 is provided with a casing formed to be roughly box-like, in which an atomizer is incorporated, and the width of the casing is made tapered from the rear end thereof toward the front end side, and a nozzle which is able to discharge atomized medicine is provided in a fixed state at the front end side.
With the atomizer having such a structure, when using the same, the rear end side is gripped by a hand and the nozzle at the front end side, which is made tapered, is caused to face the nose or throat. Furthermore, an atomizer disclosed by Japanese laid-open utility model publication No. 75750 of 1990 is provided with a cylindrical casing in which an atomizing means is incorporated, and a nozzle which is able to discharge atomized medicine is fixed at the upper side of the casing.
With an atomizer having such a structure, when using the same, the cylindrical casing is gripped by a hand and is caused to face the nose or throat. However, in such conventional atomizers, there still remain technical themes to be described below. That is, in the abovementioned utility model publications, since the nozzle is fixed in both of them, the atomizers are used while gripping the large-diametered semicircle section, the rear end section of the casing, or the cylindrical casing.
However, this kind of atomizer is used by not only an adult but also a child. With such a structure of an atomizer disclosed in the abovementioned publications, if the large-diametered semicircle side section, the rear end portion of the casing or a gripping section consisting of a cylindrical casing is set to a size suitable for an adult, the same is too large for use by a child, and it is difficult for a child to grip. To the contrary, if the gripping section is set to a size suitable for a child, the size is not suitable for an adult, and it is difficult for an adult to use. Therefore, there is some parts thereof to be further improved for the convenience of use.
Therefore, the inventors developed a handy type atomizer which is able to solve these problems and already proposed the same with Japanese utility model application No. 54055 of 1991. With the atomizer according to this application, a gripping casing in which an atomizer is incorporated has a roughly gourd-shaped cross-section in which the small-diametered cylindrical portion is connected to the large-diametered cylindrical portion at the side, and a nozzle which is able to discharge atomized medicine is provided at the upper end side of the casing so that the discharge direction of the atomized medicine can be changed, whereby an adult patient is able to grip the large-diametered cylindrical portion thereof and a child patient is able to grip the small-diametered cylindrical portion thereof. Therefore, the convenience of using an atomizer is able to be much improved. However, it is found through a further consideration that another technical theme, which is described below, internally exists in the atomizer according to this application.
That is, with an atomizer according to the abovementioned application, since it is necessary to set liquefied medicine in a medicine disk secured in a gripping casing, there was a shortcoming that although the cover is detachably mounted in the casing, for example, in a case where the power source is erroneously switched on with the cover not completely attached in the casing when using the atomizer or the cover is erroneously removed from the casing during use, atomized medicine is splashed outside other than through the nozzle.
The present invention was developed in view of such shortcomings, and it is therefore an object of the invention to provide a handy type atomizer which is able to prevent atomized medicine from being splashed outside and is able to much increase the safety.